Best Practices: 5 Tools for Better Game Project Planning
“The biggest mistake indie developers make is not knowing when to stop,” says Rami Ismail. This often stems from poor project planning, leading to scope creep and unfinished dreams. Effective planning is not about rigid adherence to a document, but about shaping your approach from initial concept to execution.
The Pitfalls of Unplanned Development
Many indie developers jump straight into coding, fueled by passion and a great idea. Without a clear roadmap, this often leads to feature blopp, where new ideas continuously get added, expanding the project beyond realistic completion. Poor task management means critical items are forgotten, deadlines are missed, and motivation dwindles. Unorganized creative processes result in scattered ideas and a lack of clear direction.
Trello: Visualizing Your Workflow
Trello fundamentally shifts your perspective from an abstract list to a visual pipeline of tasks. It uses boards, lists, and cards to represent your project stages and individual tasks. For an indie RPG developer, a board might have lists like “Backlog,” “To Do,” “In Progress,” “Testing,” and “Done.” Each card represents a specific quest, character model, or UI element. Dragging a card from “To Do” to “In Progress” provides an immediate, tangible sense of progression. This visual feedback makes scope creep more apparent; a rapidly growing “Backlog” list signals an expanding project.
Milanote: Concept to Canvas
Milanote transforms your initial conceptualization from scattered notes into an organized, visual canvas. Instead of just writing down ideas, you can drag and drop images, links, text, and even videos onto a freeform board. For a puzzle game developer, a Milanote board could contain mood board images, links to inspiring mechanics, sketches of level layouts, and text notes on core puzzle rules. This tool encourages a non-linear approach to ideation, allowing you to connect disparate elements visually and see your game’s vision emerge organically. It helps prevent fragmented ideas by keeping all your conceptual elements in one interconnected space.
HacknPlan: Game Development Specific Project Management
HacknPlan is tailored specifically for game development, moving beyond generic project management to address game-specific needs. It provides features like a Game Design Document (GDD) builder, task dependencies, and a more granular breakdown of tasks into design, art, programming, and audio. A solo platformer developer can define features like “Player Movement” and break it down into “Walking Animation,” “Jumping Mechanics,” and “Wall Jump Implementation,” assigning specific tasks to each discipline. This level of detail forces a structured approach to development, making it harder to overlook critical steps and ensuring all aspects of the game are considered.
Asana: Detailed Task Management and Collaboration (Even for One)
While often seen as a team tool, Asana’s strength lies in its ability to break down large projects into manageable sub-tasks and track progress meticulously. For a solo developer, this means you can create detailed task lists for an entire game, assign due dates, and even set up recurring tasks for daily development habits. Imagine an indie horror game creator using Asana to list “Design jump scare sequence,” then adding sub-tasks like “Sketch storyboard,” “Record sound effects,” and “Implement script trigger.” This granularity helps prevent feeling overwhelmed by the project’s scale and ensures consistent progress on individual components. It shifts your focus from the massive “game” to discrete, achievable steps.
Git (GitHub/GitLab): Version Control and Project History
Git, through platforms like GitHub or GitLab, isn’t just for code; it’s a fundamental shift in how you manage your entire project’s evolution. It enforces regular saving and allows you to revert to previous versions of your project, preventing lost work or catastrophic mistakes. Beyond code, you can track changes to art assets, design documents, and even level layouts. For an indie roguelike developer, Git allows them to experiment with new mechanics knowing they can always roll back if an idea doesn’t work. This confidence in experimentation, knowing your progress is secure, encourages bold design choices and iterative development. It fundamentally changes how you approach risk and iteration within your project.
The Power of Self-Reflection and Documentation
Tools alone are not magic bullets. Their effectiveness is amplified by consistent self-reflection and detailed documentation. These practices cement the lessons learned from using the tools and create a valuable historical record of your development journey. Regularly reviewing your Trello board, reflecting on decisions made in Milanote, or noting challenges overcome in HacknPlan consolidates your understanding.
For any game developer, tracking game development progress is invaluable. Maintaining a game development log or a game dev journal provides a real-time account of your successes, failures, and evolving ideas. It helps you identify patterns, celebrate milestones, and learn from mistakes. Many successful indie developers, like Thomas Was Alone creator Mike Bithell, emphasize the importance of documenting their journey, even if just for personal reference.
A dedicated game dev journal becomes your personal development archive. It’s where you can freely express thoughts about scope creep challenges, note effective task management strategies, or brainstorm creative solutions. It helps you stay consistent with devlogs by providing a rich source of content. If you’re looking for a structured yet flexible way to organize your thoughts and track your game’s evolution, consider starting a game dev journal. It’s a powerful companion to these project management tools, ensuring your insights are captured and your progress is always visible.